Teamsters in Orange won a $293,262.73 settlement against Republic Services for giving more than half of its municipal waste business to non-union companies that charge less.
Eric Jimenez, secretary-treasurer for Teamsters Local 952, said the union’s collective bargaining agreement with Republic stipulates that Teamsters’ employees handle 50% of the waste.
The subcontracting whittled that to as low as about 30%, he said, affecting 21 Teamsters employed as semi-truck drivers for Republic, transporting municipal waste from transfer stations to landfills.
A court-appointed arbitrator has awarded the employees $197,397.45 for lost wages in 2023. And over the next nine months, the company will own another $96,229.28 to Local 952 members, bringing the total to $293,262.73.
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Representatives with Phoenix-based Republic declined to comment on the settlement.
Republic trash trucks pick up municipal waste and deliver it to transfer stations, including one in Anaheim, where green waste and materials that can be recycled are separated out. The remaining waste is trucked to landfills.
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“This settlement sends a strong message to Republic and other greedy corporations that when you violate a Teamster contract, we will fight back and we will win,” Jimenez said. “Republic has nine months to get in compliance, or they’ll end up in court. You can take that all the way to the bank.”
Jimenez said Republic’s violation of its collective bargaining agreement with the Teamsters was noted early on.
“We started investigating this over a year and a half ago,” he said. “We spoke with the company, and they promised they would fix it, but that didn’t happen. Then we went through the grievance process, which led to arbitration and the settlement about a week and a half ago.”
Chuck Stiles, director of the Teamsters Solid Waste and Recycling Division, said the settlement puts Republic on notice.
“This company will never get away with violating collective bargaining agreements negotiated by the Teamsters without fierce resistance,” Stiles said in a statement. “We will never back down when it comes to protecting our members, and we will utilize every tool at our disposal to ensure our membership is made whole.”
Teamsters Local 952 in Orange represents roughly 9,000 truck drivers, transportation, food, office and warehouse workers at locations throughout Orange County and the surrounding region.
